Uncovering His Secrets
by neon maverick
Summary: Zack gets grounded for sneaking out and Cody reluctantly agrees to keep quiet. After a few weeks of the same routine, Cody refuses to keep quiet any longer. After they fight, Zack figures he isn't the only one who's been up to something. -CHARACTER DEATH-
1. Graduation

"Hey Zack! Wait up!"

Thirteen year old Zack Martin turned around to see his twin, Cody running up to him. He shook his head. "Bout time," he said. He started walking again as Cody joined him at his side. "Dude what took you so long?"

"Just wanted to take one last look around, gonna miss this place."

"You're such a dork," Zack replied with a snicker.

"Hey," Cody said. "This is the last time we're gonna see this place."

"Thank God," Zack muttered. Cody ignored him.

"Aren't you going to miss it?"

"Uh…no!" Zack replied. "I was ready to ace this place the day I walked in."

Cody shook his head, but a smile formed across his face. "That's if you're leaving...after what Mr. Forgess told you about your English grade…"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Well it's gone now, so what's the big deal?"

"Zack, the big deal is…" Cody began.

Here it comes, Zack thought to himself. He tuned out Cody's voice as his twin explained his point.

"Ok Zack?" Cody finished.

"Huh, what?" Zack replied lazily.

Cody shrugged. "Speaking of which, how you gonna tell mom about it anyway? She's not going to be happy when she finds out you failed."

Zack put on a devilish smile. "Leave that to me."

Cody rolled his eyes. "Right," he said, carrying on the "r." "This can't be good."

"I've got it all worked out," Zack replied, still sporting his smile. Cody stared at him, with "I already know how this is going to end," written all over his face.

"You'll see," Zack finished as the twins caught the bus back to their home, the Tipton hotel.

Once back in their suite, Carey, the twins' mother greeted the boys before going back to preparing for their graduation party. Although initially Zack was able to get away with not telling her about failing English, his plan eventually backfired, and at the worst possible time. Carey found out during the party she was throwing for the twins and was furious. Zack however wouldn't see her full fury until all the guests, including his father, Kurt had gone home.

"Zack!" Carey said as she shut the door. She glared at her son. "What were you thinking?" He looked up at her. "I'll tell you what you were thinking! You weren't thinking that's what you were thinking!"

"What's the big deal anyway?" Zack asked.

"The big deal is you lied to me! You lied to your father! And on top of that, you made a fool out of all of us!" Carey said.

"Well you know thinking isn't my strong point," Zack replied, with a cheeky smile.

"Oh yeah?" Carey said, her temper flaring now. "Well you're going to have plenty of time to practice! Cause you're gonna be in your room all summer until your grades improve."

"THAT"S NOT FAIR!" Zack snapped back.

"Well you should have thought of that before you decided to fail and then lie about it!" Carey said in a "that's final" tone. Zack however wasn't done yet.

"Summer's MY time!" Zack retorted. "I don't care what you say!"

"My house, my rules," Carey said in a similar tone. "Now go to your room!"

"Technically, we don't live in a house." Zack mumbled under his breath.

* * *

"Who does she think she is?" Zack said to Cody as he walked in

"Your mother," Cody replied dully as he took his notebook. Zack rolled his eyes.

"I'm not some little kid anymore!" Zack said as he looked over at Cody. When he saw the notebook he rolled his eyes again. "What are you doing?"

"Getting started on my summer assignment."

"Yeah well I'm going out," Zack replied as he grabbed his hoodie.

"What?!" Cody said shocked. "Zack! Mom said you're grounded."

"I don't care," Zack said. "I'm not going to let school ruin my summer too."

"Zack, please don't."

"What are you going to tattle on me?" Zack said as he climbed out onto the fire escape.

Cody hung his head. He knew what he should but he didn't want to get Zack in anymore trouble. "No…" he mumbled under his breath.

Zack stopped and looked at him. "Huh?"

"I won't tell mom." Cody replied, his head down.

"Good."

* * *

This chapter was written by **mikromb13**. Hopefully, the chapters will alternate between us two authors every other chapter. Enjoy! Please Review!


	2. The Discovery

"Not again," Cody pleaded

"Not again," Cody pleaded. "Zack please, this has got to stop." For the past couple of weeks, Zack had snuck out every night to go hang out with his friends. Cody had agreed at first to stay quiet, but eventually the guilt of lying to Carey every night began to get to him. "Zack, I can't lie to mom anymore," Cody continued.

Zack rolled his eyes. "You forget your promise already? It's only been two weeks."

He grabbed his hoodie and began to make his way towards the fire escape. Cody quickly got up from his desk and blocked Zack's path to the window.

"Zack!" Cody said. "I said I would keep quiet, but this is getting ridiculous! Please! Just finish up summer school and then you can go back to hanging out with your friends WITHOUT lying to mom!"

"Fine…so you're just going to break your promise?" Zack replied.

"If you sneak out again," Cody said, swallowing harshly. "Yes, I am."

Zack shook his head. He thought he could trust his brother. Anger began to rise inside him. "So I guess I can't trust you?"

"Zack, you know you can," Cody said in a pleading voice. "But it's for your own good. Do you want to be grounded for the whole summer?"

"Someday you might understand Cody," Zack replied darkly. "When you actually have a life outside of those damn books; or maybe when you actually have some friends of your own, instead of following me everywhere like some shadow."

Cody looked at Zack, shocked. He was too hurt to say anything. He looked into his twin's eyes, his lower lip trembling. Cody's eyes began to glisten, despite his efforts to hold his tears back. His brother…his twin…the person he thought was his best friend…how could he say something like that? Cody couldn't comprehend it. Eventually the words sank into him. He was nothing more than a shadow to Zack, a nuisance. The reality of Zack's words felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach, only the pain was ten times worse.

Zack however showed no remorse for his last comment. He looked Cody in the eye, his face hard as ever.

"D-d-do you r-r-really mean that?" Cody finally stammered out, when he finally accepted that Zack truly meant what he said.

"Just get out of my way," Zack replied, finally. He didn't want to talk to Cody anymore.

"Zack…" Cody said, tears streamed down his face.

"MOVE IT!" Zack snapped. Finally his temper got the better of him. He threw Cody out of his way.

Cody fell to the carpet. Although he caught himself with only minor brush burns to his hands, he was too hurt to get up. The pain of what Zack just did burned through him. It was worse than any possible physical pain. It tore through him, and ripped his very being. He didn't bother to get up. Tears dripped down his face and fell to the floor. Cody sniffled as he lay there, crying.

Zack stared at him for a second. "Do what you want," he spat finally. "I don't care."

With that, he climbed out the window and headed down the fire escape. He hadn't even reached the ground when the guilt of what he did to Cody began to hit him. "I got better things to think about now," he told himself as he pressed the feeling down.

Cody didn't move for awhile, he continued to lay there. Zack, his twin, hated him. He was just a shadow…a ghost. Suddenly Cody began to feel sick. He was so upset; he thought he was going to lose his dinner right then. He covered his mouth and forced himself to the bathroom.

"Cody? You ok?" Carey said when she heard her son in the bathroom. She saw him hunched over the toilet. His eyes were red, as was his face. "Cody!" She grabbed a towel and helped Cody clean himself after a final retch.

"I'm fine," Cody snapped. "Please."

Carey backed off, a stunned look on her face. She helped Cody back to his room. "Hey, where's Zack?" She asked when she realized her older son was nowhere to be found.

"He…he…" Cody began.

"Did he sneak out?" Carey asked, shocked that Zack would disobey her like that.

"He went t-t-to look for me…I snuck out earlier." He lied.

"CODY MARTIN!" Carey said, completely stunned that Cody, the good twin would try to sneak out.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Cody continued to lie. "I-I wanted to see a scary movie. He must have gone out to find me. But s-something I ate earlier didn't mix with the popcorn, so I rushed home and puked."

Carey grabbed her forehead. It felt like her world was spinning. It was as if nothing was around her was real. "Look, just go find him, I'll deal with the two of you later."

"Ok," Cody gulped. He grabbed his hoodie and left the hotel.

* * *

Zack silently and stealthily made his way across the parking lot. Something inside him didn't feel right, as if something very bad had happened. "It's probably just some guilt or something," he told himself. "I'll make it up to Cody when I get back." He went around to the back of the hotel where the fire escape was. Something in front of him however, caused him to stop dead in his tracks. Zack's eyes widened and his jaw dropped when the truth of the picture in front of him hit him full force.

Lying near the bottom of the fire escape was Cody. His eyes held a look of pure pain. His skin was pasty white, his dark blue hoodie completely stained with blood that emitted from a rip located over Cody's upper abdomen.

"CODY!" Zack breathed as he rushed forward and cradled his little brother in his arms. Cody however was completely unresponsive. "Come on buddy…" Zack said as tears formed in his eyes. "C-Cody…no Cody, come on." He gently shook Cody's form, but no response came. Zack pulled his hand away; it was covered in blood. "No! NO! Cody! Please!" Tears poured down Zack's face and landed on Cody's still form. "I'm sorry buddy, please wake up, please." He shook Cody again, more violently this time.

No answer came, not a single movement or breath.

"Cody, please," Zack choked through more tears. "Please no, Cody. I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! CODY!" He laid his head down on Cody's immobile chest. "CODY!" Zack cried harder than he ever had in his life. "I'M SORRY!! CODY! WAKE UP! PLEASE! CODY! PLEASE LITTLE BRO! PLEASE!" The tears refused to stop. Zack could barely breathe he cried so hard. "C-Cody…" He said again, softly. "I'm so sorry little brother, I'm sorry…I'm sorry." His voice lowered to whisper.

Zack looked up, hoping everything was just an illusion, a bad dream. He looked into Cody's eyes again, knowing it was the last time he would ever look into his little brother's eyes. He slowly reached up with two shaky fingers and closed his baby brother's eyes.

**Okay, so the alternating thing isn't working out at the moment, due to personal reasons, so this chapter was also written by mikromb13. Hopefully, the next chapter will be by me.**


	3. Never Say Never

Carey paced around the suite, wishing for the safety of her sons. She wanted to go and talk to one of the employees or Mr Moseby to calm herself, but they'd all gone home, and Skippy would be asleep at his post anyway. She sat down on the couch, but could not stop the inevitable bouncing her knee was doing. 'C'mon Cody, find your brother…' she kept whispering.

She heard footsteps outside of the hotel room, and stood up, holding her head up in hope. Cody had left the door ajar when he gone out to look for Zack, and Carey couldn't bring herself to shut it. What if something happened to them, and because the door was shut, she wouldn't be able to help? It was the little things that could bring on fears.

The door suddenly swung open wide. Her eldest son stood there, with her youngest son in his arms. There were tears pouring down his cheeks, and there was blood over his face and hands. He walked forward slowly and dropped to his knees on the pale carpet, laying his little brother in front of him.

He looked up at his mother, and she shook her head. 'No. No, it's not true. Zack, tell me…tell me…no…'

Zack gulped harshly, making eye contact with her. 'I wish…I wish I could.' Tears choked his words.

'Oh, God.' Carey clutched her forehead like she did when Cody told her he sneaked out. She blew a shaky breath and knelt down next to her sons, feeling the tears build up and spill over. 'Oh God, no.'

She wanted to feel her youngest son's heart, but she couldn't bear it. That silent rhythm, that utter loss.

* * *

Zack lay in his brother's bed, holding his brother's blanket, crying for his brother's life. The blue felt rubbed softly at the skin of his cheek as he shook with emotions. The state of the room made him want to hurl, only because it reminded him that Cody would have been cleaning it right about now. It was the little things; the things that you miss so much you start to forget them.

He reached up to the shelf above the bed, shaking severely, and grabbing a photo frame, looking at it intently. By the time he eventually fell asleep, he'd memorized every detail. Every single detail.

* * *

Everything reminded him of his twin. Everything. He couldn't remember anything about him at one moment, and then, in a split-second, everything would come crashing back on him like a train that had no brakes. It would hit him full-force, a swirl of emotions that could kill a person with its sheer selfishness. A quagmire of sensations that would pile on top of you and crush your insides with guilt and remorse.

He was sitting, watching, waiting for the funeral ceremony to start. People would walk past and try to stay conversational, but he only wanted to have a conversation with one person. His brother. His twin. His other half. His soul mate.

He knew it would never happen. He was never going to see his beautiful baby brother again. Never.

_Never say never._

A typical line used by many teachers when you could _never _do sports, or you could _never _write an essay, or _never _see that one person. That one person, who could change your life, just by looking into your eyes for one small second; one meaningful second.

The way everyone looked at him made him want to run. Far away. Run far away and never return. _Never._

He couldn't take it. All those beady eyes, staring at him, crying silently, waiting for another reaction, other than tears. He looked into the distance, just to escape from it all.

But there was one thing that scared him more than the people around him. The one thing he wished for, yet when it happened, he wasn't sure whether it was pain welling inside his heart, or happiness.

It was that one person who could change his life with one word.

It was him. It was his brother. Standing there, emotionless. His eyes weren't their usual bright blue, they seemed endless. Pits of darkness.

But then, as quickly as he appeared, he vanished. Not a trace; it was as if he'd never been there.

He thought he was never going to see him again. Never see his twin, his best friend in the entire universe, ever again.

_Never say never._

* * *

**This chapter was actually written by me. What an achievement!! Please Review!**


	4. Sight

Not only was Zack extremely upset over what happened to Cody, he was furious with himself. His little brother was only trying to help him, how could he treat Cody like that? The guilt multiplied when Carey told him what Cody had said…Cody had remanded loyal to Zack, right up to the moment he died. The feeling tore through Zack. He felt lower than the scum on the bottom of his shoe. He continued to ask himself, how someone like him could still be breathing while someone as innocent as Cody was dead.

_"Do what you want, I don't care…"_ The words spun in Zack's head over and over. Each cycle was the equivalent of a punch in the stomach…an endless torture.

Outside, the sky was as gloomy as ever. The group filed around the grave site as the coffin was brought by, shrouded with a black veil. Once the group was set, the priest said a few more blessings before pointing to Zack. "And now," he finished. "A few words from the one who knew Cody best, Zack Martin."

Zack wiped his eyes as he pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. Zack took a deep breath, looking up. "Cody was…" he began, but his voice broke a second later. He was silenced by the picture his eyes took in the moment he opened his mouth. He was back.

Standing on the opposite side of the cemetery was a boy with shoulder length blond hair. His skin was white as snow and looked as if it was almost transparent. Dried blood flowed from a hole located in his 'clothes' just above his abdomen. His outline also seemed to fade off.

"Cody was…" Zack began again, but then his eyes met the eyes of the spectra. Its eyes were dark with each pupil completely dilated, and seemingly filled with pain. Its eyes had very dark circles around them and its face held an expressionless look. For a moment, Zack was completely spellbound, until a second later, the boy disappeared.

'Cody…" Zack said a third time, but his voice trailed off. He was stunned by what he had just seen. Was it real? Was that really Cody? How could it be? Cody was dead…what about his body in that coffin? Zack blinked twice. Between blinks, Zack had thought he saw him again, but the sight was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Carey put her arm around Zack, before looking at the priest, slowly moving her head back and forth, as if to silently tell him that Zack couldn't do this. The priest nodded and concluded the service with another prayer. After that one by one, everyone placed a flower on the young boy's coffin before leaving the cemetery.

The whole way home, Carey left her arm around her son, telling him that it was "ok." Zack didn't respond.

That night, Zack tossed and turned, and despite every adequate effort, could not fall into a descent sleep. He would doze off momentarily and snap awake a few minutes later. Finally Zack sat up and looked around his room, once again taking in all the memories he had of his brother, the worst of which was his brother's light blue "blankie."

Suddenly, Zack heard what sounded like a soft rush of wind. Zack looked over at the window, initially thinking he may have forgotten to shut it. A second look however confirmed that it was indeed closed. A second later, Zack heard another soft breeze, inside his room. "Zack…" the wind seemed to say…in a voice very similar to that of his brother's. The wind however seemed to die as quickly as it came.

Zack shivered, fear beginning to fill him. "W-what's going on?" He asked himself. "I must be dreaming, I guess I'm more tired than I thought." Zack kept telling himself that, however as he did, he began to shiver more and more. He then realized that the shivering wasn't just from his fear. No, the temperature in the room was dropping at a rapid rate. Zack's eyes began to widen as he saw his breath form a cloud of mist in front of his face. His breathing deepened, causing the cloud to grow.

He heard the wind a third time. "Zack…." It seemed to say again, this time much more distinctly. Fear continued to flow through Zack's body. He shivered more and more, his mouth hung open as his brain searched for a reasonable explanation.

Suddenly a form appeared through the misty cloud Zack's breath was sustaining. Zack's eyes widened to the size of golf balls. He wanted to scream but couldn't find the air to do so. His breathing was little more than a bunch of quick, short spurts, each one contributing further to the mist that now twirled around the form. Feelings of fear and true terror surged through Zack's body.

The moon's light reflected of the form's pure white, yet semitransparent skin, causing it to glow frighteningly. The light also reflected off the figure's blond hair, the outline of which seemed to fade off. Zack's mouth hung open as his eyes then fell on the pair staring back at him. Each was a dark hole, surrounded by a dark, baggy circle. The whites of each eye also glowed in the moonlight, contrasting frighteningly with their dark surroundings.

"Zack…"

**Mikromb13 again Please Review!**


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